News editors: Mikael Kahrle & Johan Carlsson

Deine Lakaien to release "April Skies" in March

A new picture. From left to right: Alexander Veljanov and Ernst Horn.

• "April Skies" (Capitol/EMI) will be out March 13. The album is proceeded by a single for "Over and Done" in February. For this new work, Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov have been joined in the studio by their live line-up from the "White Lies" tour. Veljanov:
- Already working on tour with these musicians was such a positive experience that we decided we really wanted to work with them in the studio. Our previous album was very introverted, a kind of glancing around one's self in a phase of rest. "April Skies" is much more lively, more extreme, more upbeat and more powerful.
Review in progress. /Peter Marks

Dark Tranquility stays in character
• Set for a world-wide release this week, but already out in some markets, is Dark Tranquility's new album entitled "Character". Dark Tranquility still stays rooted in the advanced Gothenburg death metal camp but retains the electronic edge that they introduced on the "Haven" album.
The band will also have a song featured on the soundtrack to the upcoming movie based on the computer game "Alone in the dark" featuring Christian Slater. /Peter Takizawa

"Vancouver's Kraftwerk" bake new collection

Exclusive image: Images in Vogue at "Look Me in the Eye" video soundstage 2004.
Photo provided by band

• Recently dubbed "Vancouver's Kraftwerk"..., Images in Vogue continues to promote their past efforts today. The band completed a video shoot for "Look Me in the Eye" last month which is currently in the post production stage.
The band decided to continue looking through their archives and bring out some of their favourite material and alternate versions that were never released. The now dated original master tapes were oven baked and played back for a one time digital transfer for future CD mastering processing. The magnetic particles would then literally fall off the decaying tape. "Collection 3.0: Evolution" looks to have 18 to 20 tracks to fill the gaps that their previous two collection CD:s did not offer listeners.
See earlier IIV news from Release here. /Alex Veronac

Three new Kent songs in two weeks
• The first single from the new album is called "Max 500" and released on February 9. The single offers two exclusive bonus songs: "M" and "Välgärningar & illdåd".
- We have never, ever been better!, Kent says (as usual).
"Max 500" will be premiered on the Swedish Grammy Awards (Grammisgalan) on February 7. After the show, the song will be available for digital purchase. The bonus songs can also be bought on line, but not until the day of the single release. Max 500 is the name of an old club in Eskilstuna, the city where Kent was formed.
Review copies of the album will not be sent out until close to the release date, Kent PR manager Sandra Nordin tells Release. Promo rips of Kent's last album was available on file sharing networks prior to the release. /Mikael Kahrle

Old styled New Order returns

• New Order, legendary pop band from Manchester, has a new album entitled “Waiting for the Sirens Call” due out on March 28 via London Records. According to reports, the band has returned to a more electronic sound, and the first, catchy single “Krafty” more or less confirms that. The eleven track album is produced by a bunch of different producers, such as Stephen Street, John Leckie, Stuart Price and New Order.
Furthermore, photographer Anton Corbijn is making his directorial debut making a biographical movie – so far called “Control” – about Ian Curtis, produced by Ian’s widow Deborah Curtis, and former Factory Records boss Anthony Wilson. /Johan Carlsson

Die Krupps reunite in Leipzig
• Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig (May 13-16) has released wave after wave with new live acts for this year's event.
Die Krupps are going to deliver a reunion performance after eight years of absence. At least in Scandinavia, the once pioneering industrialists lost a huge part of their big fan base when they wandered far into metal land. The gig will mark their 25th anniversary, so Jürgen and co will probably play many hits from the days of old. "Still hard as steel", the organizers comment...
Other WGT acts include The Human League, Anne Clarke, Tiamat, Melotron, Das Ich, Love Is Colder Than Death and Welle:Erdball. See On Stage. /Mikael Kahrle

Marilyn Manson first in line to Hultsfred

Decadent 1.

• Sweden's Hultsfred Festival (June 16-18) has announced its first bookings and on the top of the list we find Marilyn Manson, who will play this fest for the second time. /Mikael Kahrle

"Decadent and Desperate"

Decadent 2.

• Norwegian dark industrial artist Mortiis will keep himself, or at least his label, busy following up the recent album "The Grudge" with a single release of the song "Decadent & Desperate" in April together with a music video. And a DVD from the London show on the "Unlimited Grudge" tour is also in the pipeline - for a spring release.
Furthermore Mortiis will perform at what the organizers claim to be Scandinavia's largest music convention (not that there are many to chose from), by:Larm in Stavanger on February 10-12. /Peter Takizawa

April album from Autechre
• The two British sound virtuosos Sean Booth and Rob Brown in Autechre have a new album coming out in April. It’s called “Untilted” and comes out on Warp.
They will also play live in UK, Europe, USA and Japan later this year. /Johan Carlsson

New signing for Memento Materia sub label
• The Memento Materia sublabel Prototyp has signed the new band Militant Cheerleaders on the Move. They play old-school body in the vein of DAF and Nitzer Ebb. Their debut material will be a single out in May, and they also complete the bill of the Memento Materia festival Get Electrofied 2005 in Lund, Sweden, together with guests Lowe. /Johan Carlsson

"Paradise Lost" with Paradise Lost



• British dark electro rock band Paradise Lost has been working on the new album “Paradise Lost” together with producer Rhys Fulber (Front Line Assembly, Delerium). It’s ready for release on February 21, and the first single will be “Forever after”, out on February 14.
An extensive tour will take place this spring, complete with a new live drummer called Jeff Singer. It kicks off on April 28 in Holland, moves on through Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Austria, Croatia, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Portugal before stopping on June 7 in France. Phew… Observe that not all of the tour is confirmed. /Johan Carlsson

Reformation tour PWEI CD:s
A rumoured small warm-up date for the Pop Will Eat Itself "Reformation" tour turned into a full fledged gig in Nottingham on January 20.
For those not able to attend, news comes to us that the band has decided to record all five UK gigs and offer them through the Instant Live online service. Some individual live gig 2CD:s or a limited edition "Reformation Instant Live" box set. A live DVD filmed at Birmingham Academy has been announced for release through the same service.
The band was interviewed on BBC Television's Midlands Tonight program regarding their surprise reappearance. Currently there are no plans to continue touring. /Alex Veronac

Rammstein haben keine lust

• German superstars Rammstein are pouring out singles, and the latest from “Reise Reise” is “Keine Lust”. It comes in a number of different formats: limited digipak, jewel case, DVD and vinyl. Expect some extra tracks on the single, and the “Keine Lust” and “Mein Teil” videos on the DVD. Out on February 14. /Johan Carlsson

Resfest plays Warp tribute
The American film culture magazine's annual touring Resfest 2004 digital film festival expanded in 2004. Bringing it's tour to more cities and viewers, the festival programmers were able to highlight more musical themed clips that haven't made it to mainstream television. We caught the tour in Toronto and enjoyed the 15 year restrospective on Warp Records (US). "Warp Vision (The Videos 1989-2004)" brought some well seen promo clips by Aphex Twin and Squarepusher but also some lesser seen ones from Autechre, Luke Vibert, Broadcast and LFO. Missing was any content by Scots Boards of Canada who do not have a video to date. Other highlights were the Cinema Electronica and Cancon Music Videos segments.  Air's "Electronic Performers" impressed many.
A companion Resfest DVD is available with the festival content. Bringing together a great array of talented film makers' reels, we look forward to 2005's touring fest. /Alex Veronac

Combichrist release double album
• Combichrist is the solo project of Andy LaPlegua from Icon of Coil, and he’s now ready to unleash a double album (although only Europe gets the double disc edition), cheerfully titled “Everybody Hates You”. The first disc is hard EBM, while disc two contains dark ambient. This edition of the album comes out on Out of Line on February 21. /Johan Carlsson

Front Line Assembly DVD in the works
• A DVD with Front Line Assembly is now being prepared by German multimedia artist Henrik Bauer. If everything turns out as planned, the DVD will contain all FLA videos, plus five newly made videos by Henrik. The concert from the live video "Live Wired" will also be included, in remastered form. Some extras are also being worked on. /Johan Carlsson

Delerium and Sarah McLachlan play for Tsunami victims

• On January 29, a multi artist benefit concert for the tsunami victims will take place in Vancouver, Canada. Local celebs Delerium and Sarah McLachlan have signed on for seperate shows and it remains to be seen if Sarah takes this opportunity to join Delerium on stage for the first time in their hit "Silence". /Mikael Kahrle, Johan Carlsson

More Mexican EBM
• Mexico not only offers Hocico, they also have EBM act Amduscia. They will release their new single “Dead or Alive” on Out of Line on February 14, and it’s a seven track MCD with four new tracks, and three mixes of the title track. /Johan Carlsson

Swedish author and electronica artists go pop in The Sabrina
• Electronica artists Andreas Tilliander (a k a Mokira, Komp, Lowfour and many more) and Johan Skugge (formerly in Yvonne and Rockmonster) have teamed up with author Per Hagman to form pop band The Sabrina, originally known as Sabrina Twins and Sabrina Boys. Tilliander tells Release that all three members contribute music, with Hagman also providing lyrics, vocals and most of the ideas.
- I guess Per brought us together, Tilliander says. Johan and I already play in four bands together, so why not a fifth? The music is very dancey and positive. Some influences worth mentioning are Pet Shop Boys, The KLF, euro disco and druggy synths.
The Sabrina will be performing live at club Möllans El at KB in Malmö on January 21. That show is wedged in between Tilliander’s other musical commitments – a trip to Latvia before and a journey to Japan after, in February.
- Now I finally get to perform in Sweden too, which is something I’ve barely done since I played in synth bands in my teens, Tilliander says. Besides that I will do a few remixes and other things. For instance for Sweden’s best synth band, but I don’t think I should be saying anything about that yet. /Kristoffer Noheden

Deutsche Alternative Charts of 2004

Oomph! thank their voters.

• Public Propaganda has compiled its yearly round-up of the DAC. Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly and Fixmer/McCarthy make up the top three albums, above :Wumpscut:, a couple of compilations and The Cure. The singles chart has Depeche Mode’s “Enjoy the Silence 04” at the top, followed by “Augen Auf” by Oomph, and The Retrosic’s “God of Hell – DJ Edition”.
The most successful record label for singles is Out of Line, followed by Virgin and Dependent. The top label for albums is Dependent, followed by Synthetic Symphony and Out of Line. /Johan Carlsson

New signings by Infacted


Liquid Divine.

• Orange Sector and Liquid Divine are the latest signings to German label Infacted.
Orange Sector plays old-school body and has their debut album “Here We Are (Back Again)” out this year.
Liquid Diving is described as a mix between Front Line Assembly, Haujobb and Kraftwerk, and are also due out with their debut album “Interface” in April. /Johan Carlsson

New album from Arcana
• "Le Serpent Rouge (Erebus Odora)" is out soon and is available as both a limited run (100 copies) box set and a "standard" edition of 500 copies. Peter Bjargo's (formerly Peter Andersson) project has released four albums, three singles and has played numerous live shows. /Peter Marks

Andreas Dorau signed by Mute
• Mute Records Germany has signed Neue Deutsche Welle veteran Andreas Dorau, known for his hit single "Fred vom Jupiter". The first new release from Herr Dorau will be the single "Strasse der Träume" followed by an album later, in April. /Mikael Kahrle

The latest from Trent Reznor

• Trent Reznor has stated that the next Nine Inch Nails album is finally complete. Complete with new title "With Teeth", the Alan Moulder produced sessions hope to get released in May on Nothing/Interscope (USA). Will the CD title get changed yet again? For now, fans can bleed through while listening to the rehashed remastered 10th anniversary 5.1 dualdisc or SACD editions of "The Downward Spiral".
Select US club dates look to start the new release promotion in February and European dates look to start in April. Rehearsals have begun in California and a full tour is to insue. The live band is to consist of: Twiggy Ramirez (Marilyn Manson), drummer Jerome Dillon, guitarist Ralph Dieter, keyboarder Allesandro Cortini and frontman Reznor himself.
Reznor will appear as remixer on the next U2 single with a B-side remix of "Vertigo".
A recent first ever personal meeting with Nivek Ogre brought internet rumours full steam ahead of a probable co-headline tour. No such thing. /Alex Veronac

FLA and Delerium live drummer goes solo



• Silent Alarm is the name of Adrian White’s solo project. He played the drums on a couple of Front Line Assembly tours as well as the recent Delerium tour, and has also played with Dismantled and Strapping Young Lad. Now he’s working on his first solo album with a bunch of guest vocalists, including Kristy Thirsk who has also worked with Delerium. The music shows hints of Delerium, but with an edge to it. Adrian promises more aggressive stuff as well.
The as yet untitled album is due out sometime this year, but Adrian is still looking for a label. /Johan Carlsson

Get Electrofied Festival 2005
• The Swedish electro label Memento Materia are preparing their own festival – Get Electrofied 2005. Three artists are confirmed so far, namely Colony 5, Michigan and Interlace. Five bands will play altogether, four from Memento Materia, and one guest. It all takes place at Mejeriet in Lund, Sweden on March 19. /Johan Carlsson